Furnace for burning solid fuels such



Oct. 6, 1953 J. A. woRsHAM 2,654,330

FURNACE FOR BURNING SOLID FUELS SUCH AS BITUMINOUS COAL AND DERIVATIVES THEREOF Filed Aug. 6. 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet l f ,l/f//Zl f mf. :A v

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Cet. 6, 1953 1 A'. WORSHAM 2,654,330

FURNACE FOR BURNING SOLID FUELS SUCH AS BITUMINOUS COAL AND DERIVATIVES THEREOF Filed Aug. 6, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 at sa 5 Patented ct. 6, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FURNACE FOR BURNING SOLID FUELS SUCH AS BITUMINOUS COAL AND DERIVATIVES THEREOF This invention relates to improvements in av furnace for burning solid fuels such as bituminous coal, lignite, and derivatives thereof, in sizes from screenings to lumps approximating four to ve inches in diameter, the invention primarily being for domestic burning devices although it may go to commercial installations and the like.

The invention also is a furthering of that shown and described in my U. S. application for Letters Patent, led April 22, 1946, Serial No. 663,973, which issued October 10, 1950, and bears Number 2,524,868.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a burning device, stove or furnace of an improved construction whereby to rst coke a given quantity of coal in one location of the fire pct and to burn the coked coal in another location of the device.

Another object of the invention is to provide the fire pot of the burning device with a' pair of `cooperating swingable grates, each with a specifl cally positioned swingable axis so that the steps of treating the fuel in the fire pot will be carried out in the order of colaing the fuel, burning the coked fuel and subsequently discharging the burned fuel residue from the fire pot.

A further object is to provide the're pot of the furnace with a set of two cooperating fuel supporting grates which are swingably mounted on like ends, remote from the fuel ring opening or chute of the furnace.

A still further object is to provide a furnace fire pot with an improved two section grate, one of which is operable to serve as a coking section for coal when fed thereon, and the other section serving as a burning section for the coked coal and subsequently as a shaking and discharging section for the burned coal residue thereon.

It is also an object of the invention to provide the burning section of the grate, of a construction adjacent its swinging axis for engaging or scraping cooperation with any solidifying substance which may form by fuel burning action, on the re pot refractory wall there adjacent.

Another still further object is to provide the fire pot with an improved swingably mounted baffle wall for diverting the extracting volatiles from the fuel being coked, downwardly into the burning section of the fire pot.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit and intents of the invention.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation taken through this improved furnace.

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional elevation taken approximately on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical transverse sectional elevation taken approximately on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional elevation taken approximately on the line i-i of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary 4vertical sectional elevation taken approximately on the line 5--5 of Fig. 3.

Figure 6 is a front elevation of the fuel feed door and damper therefor, taken in the direction of the arrow 6 in Fig. 1.

By reference to the drawings, the numeral It) designates a hot air type of furnace having the conventional air drum II surrounding the burning unit I2 which comprises an ashpit I3 having the re pot I4 thereabove which leads to the heating drum l5. An outlet i6 from the heating drum I5 leads to a downward extending nue Ii which is in communication at its lower end with the stack I8.

Dividing the ashpit I3 from the fire pot I4 is a normally horizontally disposed two section grate I9, one of said sections being a coking section 20 which is wider than the section 2l which is the combined burning and dumping section. Disposed above the grate section 2li in the refractory wall 22 of the nre pot I4 is a discharge opening 23 which is in communication with the lower end of a fuel chute 213, said chute having its outer extending end extending through the air drum II and having a fuel door 25 hinged at 26 thereto.

The side of the grate coking section 2c which is remote from the refractory wall 22 is provided with a horizontally extending shaft 2l xedly secured thereto, said shaft being supported in a pair of bearings 28 and on the end of said shaft which extends through the air drum ii, a lever 29 is secured thereto, outside of the air drum.

The grate section 2l adjacent the refractory wall 30 which is opposite the wall 22 has a hori-v zontally extending shaft 3l forming a part thereof and said shaft paralleling theV shaft 'il of the grate section 2li and being supported in a pair of bearings 32, said shaft at one end extending through the air drum I I and having an operating handle 33 secured thereto, outwardly of the drum II, said handle being of an inverted Lshape and being of a length whereby the leg 3i will normally engage the floor A when the grate section 2| is horizontally disposed.

The grate section 20 is in the form of a pan having a solid bottom 35 and actually is disposed in the coking section 35 of the fire pot |4, said coking section having a top refractory wall 31 which extends inwardlyfrom the .refractory wall 22 to the passageway 38 which extends upwardly from the nre pot.

Swingable by a rod 39 is a baille wall 49 of a series of refractory panels 4| suspended at their upper ends from a horizontal rchannel :member 42, said member having a pair of upstandingf-ears 43 which are alined with respective ears 44, secured to and extending from the :wall portion 45 of the heatdrum I5. A bolt 44a is engaged through an adjacent pair of ears-43 -andf4'4fand one end of the rod 39 is engaged throughthe other adjacent pair of .ears and is secured to the ear 43 of said pair by a pin 43a, the other endof said rod extending outwardly throughthe air drum ||and having an operating handle 10.

One side 4E of the channel member 42 is dependingly inclined toward itsother side to form a key-way 41 for securing `the upper ends of respective panels 4| Of the baille wall 40 which are conformingly shaped to the channel in said member 42, and for mounting the `panels 49 in the member 42, a centrally disposed l"elongated opening 4B is formed in said member.

In mounting-the panels '40 in the 'channel 42 in the event of repair, access thereto can be had through the fire door 49, and the interxnediately disposed panel 4| isjpushed'upwardly through the elongated opening 48 in the channel member 42 and removed therefrom. One of the outer disposed panels is then slid in the channel member 42 to the opening 48 thereof and is similarly lifted through the opening and ultimately the other outer disposed panel is removed in the same manner.

Remounting of panels in the channel member is carried on in reverse order kfrom the removal of the old panels in which the first two panels are engaged in the channel member through the opening 48 and outwardly slid in said member, and finally the centrally disposed panel is inserted through the opening.

Upon readying the furnace forringa quantity of coal and the required kindling is mounted on the grate section 2| through the re door 49, air draft therefor being supplied to the ashpit 3 by regulation of the damper 59 on the ashpit door Previous to kindling the ,fire however, on the grate section 2|, a supply of coal is Afed through the chute 24 for deposit on the eoking section of the grate.

After starting the fire in the furnace and in due time, the damper 52 on the `fuel vdoor 25 is regulated to permit air to enter the coking section 36 of the nre pot as the'heat from the burning fuel on the grate section 2| becomes eifective on the coal which was deposited on the 4colring grate section 29, thereby expanding and coking the coal in the coking section 36 of the firepot. The damper 50 on the ashpit `door 5| may then be closed so that the only air draft through the burning unit |2 will be through the regulated damper 52 of the fuel door'25.

As the coking of the ncoal vprogresses inthe section 35 of the fire pot I4, 'the heavy vapors and gases there arising, will be forced downwardly by the baule wall 40 and .directed thereunder and into the passageway .3S above the grate burning section 2|, ,into combusting contact with the iire thereon and willbe ignited and consumed before entering the heat chamber |5.

The coal supply on the coking section 29 of the grate, due to the heat from the re of the burning fuel on the burning section 2|, will ignite the coking coal in the coking section 36 of there pot, and particularly .by reason ,of that portion ofrthecoked fuel which overlapped and mingled with the fuel on the grate section 2| when the coal supply was delivered onto the grate section 20, the heat from the combusting fuelsxifbothgratesections 20 and 2| upon passing upwardlythrough'the passageway 38, being directed to oneside of the heat chamber I5 by the vdeiiecting refractory wall 53 which is disposed on top of the wall 30, thereby preventing `short-cutftrafelbf .the heated products of combustionfrom the heat chamber I5 to the furnace outlet'l.

VIf the kindled fuel on the grate burning section IM has been consumed'by the time the-coal on the coking `:section 29 has ignited, the ash content or residue on the'section 2| can be discharged into the, ash can 54in the ashpit I3 by lifting the handle 33 onthe shaft 3| of said section 2 inthe manner as shown indotted lines in Fig. 1.

After freeing the burned residue from the grate section 2| the=leg-34of the lever 33 of said section upon being released, will automatically falliinto its neutral position-by reason of said leg being of relatively heavy construction and the grate section v-2| will be moved toits horizontalposition thereby, saidgrate section vthen being ready for receptiono'f the 'coked coal "or fuel'on the grate section'ZD.

In discharging vthe 'ignited coked fuel from the grate section 20, the handle 29 is manipulated upwardly-thereby incliningthe section 29 into a position of discharge so that the burning cokedfue'l will bedumped on the burning grate section 2| and the handle 29 and grate section 20 is then returned to its neutral position ready for another supply of coal which is fed onto the section 2U through the `coal chute `2t.

Timely alternate fuel charging from the coking n section 20 and subsequent discharging-operations of the burning section 2| of'thegrate |59 commensurate with weather conditionsfis carried out in this improved furnace through the burning seasons of the year, and at-times upon inspection through the nre door 49 of the burning -fuel on the grate section 2 it maybe found vdesirable-to shake said section to discharge the ashes there- Y from and retain embers that are still burning.

This is done by swinging the drop-handle 55 outwardly from the`leg -34 of the "handle '33 to' grate section 2 the coked fuelonlthe grate section 20 is discharged onto the'burning gratel section 2| and of course subsequent coal charging of the grate section '20 is then effected.

The fuel door 25 and the ash pit door 5| and their respective dampers 52 and `50, are very similar in construction, the fuel door 25 being hinged at 26 to the outer extending end of the chute 24 and having a closing plate 56 against which the turnable damper 52 is mounted, said damper having air openings '51 to aline withlike air openings `58 4in the plate 59 for adjustable alinement with the openings of the damper 52.

An auxiliary door 59 for closing cooperation with the plate 56 is swingably mounted at 60 to the closing plate 56 of the door 25, and attached at 6l to the door 59 is one end of a pull-chain 62, the other end of which may be hand operated or attached to a thermostat control element or the like, not shown.

The ash pit door 5I has an auxiliary door 63 hinged thereto at 64 to which one end of a control chain 65 is attached. The auxiliary doors 59 vand 63 of respective fuel and ash pit doors 25 and 5| are operated to regulate the amount of draft air passing through respective dampers of the fuel door and the ash pit door therefor, the respective dampers 52 and 50 of said doors when adjusted for desired air draft regulation, may be left in their adjusted positions so that further regulation therefor is provided by the auxiliary doors only of said fuel and ash pit doors.

It is to be noted that the shaft 3l of the burning grate section 2l is disposed a short distance inwardly on the grate section from the refractory wall 38, thereby providing short portions 66 at that end of each grate bar 61 which at their ends approximately abut the wall 30 although they are each rounded on their under sides, as indicated at 68, for swinging clearance when the section 2l dumping while the ends of sadportion 56 are left sharp or right angular in shape, as indicated at 69 in Fig. 5.

The sharp portions 69 of the short portions 66 of the grate section 2l are for the purpose of breaking off and thus preventing a line of solidifying substance formed by burning products of combustion on the refractory wall 30.

As may be desired, due to the different kinds of fuel used, the baie wall 40 may be of different length or depth yfor conditioning the coking section 36 of the re pot for more suitably carrying on the coking and expanding of the fuel in acquiring all of the volatiles or heavy vapors and oils therefrom, which are more or less present in different fuels, as it is requisite that all of the heavy vapors from the expanding fuel be discharged therefrom and consumed by burning action, before the coked fuel is discharged onto the grate burning section 2|, so that there will be no smoke discharged from the furnace through the stack I8.

The fire door 49 may be provided with the form of damper construction referred to in connection with the fuel door 25 and the ash pit door 5I, so that regulated air draft into the fire pot passageway 38 may be had.

The baffle wall 40 being swingable, will permit the discharge of coked fuel thereunder from the coking grate section 20 to the burning grate section 2|, said baiile wall being rearwardly swung by gravity to its perpendicular position. If necessary however, the bale wall may be operated by its lever 10.

What I claim is:

1. A furnace comprising a re pot, a horizontal grate consisting of a front coking section and a rear burning section for said re pot, means for rotatably supporting said burning section adjacent its rearmost side for dumping burned residue therefrom over its front side, means forming an ash pit for the furnace, air inlet control damper means for the ash pit of the furnace to supply air for starting a fire, means for rotatably supporting said coking section adjacent its rearmost side and so arranged that upon rotation the coked fuel material will be placed by is downwardly swung for residue gravity on said burning section, a bale swingably mounted in said fire pot and disposed in a plane in substantial alignment with the rotational axis of the burning section, said baflie directing the coking gases over the burning section for combustion, a fuel tube for introducing fuel into said coking section, said fuel tube having an air supply opening, air control means in Said fuel tube for damping the air supplied to the coking section and through the fuel to continue combustion in said furnace; and a door for said fire pot disposed above said burning section for access thereto in start-inga re and for inspection of the swingable bafe.

2. A furnace comprising a fire pot, a horizontal grate consisting of a coking section and a burning section for said re pot, means for rotatably supporting said burning section for dumping burned residue therefrom, a handle for rotating said burning section and returning it to the horizontal position, means forming an ash pit having an air supply opening for use in starting a fire in the furnace, an air supply damping means for the ash pit air supply opening to the furnace, means for rotatably supporting said coking section and so arranged that upon rotation the materialwill be placed on said burning section, a baiiie including a plurality of baie blocks swingably hung in said fire pot above and disposed in a plane in substantial alignment with the rotational axis of the burning section to direct combustible gases into the latter section, a fuel and air inlet tube for introducing fuel onto said coking section and supplying air thereto, air inlet control means in said fuel tube for damping the air supply during starting and for thereafter supplying the primary combustion air to said furnace; and a service door for said re pot disposed above said burning section, said blocks being installed and removed from said bafe through said door.

JAMES A. WORSHAM.

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